Nine is fine for Pueblo at state

Pueblo County's Keenan Willits wrestles Canon City's Lucas Bufmack during the Class 4A state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Friday. Willits won the quarterfinal match.

BY LARRY LOPEZ
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Published: February 21, 2014;Last modified: February 21, 2014 11:54PM

DENVER — Nine Puebloan high school wrestlers maintained their quest for state titles by posting back-to-back wins Friday and gained berths in the championship finals tonight at the 2014 state tournament at the Pepsi Center.

Pueblo coaches at the tourney couldn’t remember when Pueblo has had so many wrestlers in the championship round.

Pueblo County High School led the way by sweeping all four of its semifinal matches. All three of the Willits brothers secured title berths as well as 120-pounder Chris Sandoval. Grant Willits will vie for the 106-pound crown, Hunter Willits is chasing the 132-pound title and Keenan Willits the 160-pound championship. Grant Willits, Sandoval and Hunter Willits are freshmen.

They propelled the Hornets into second place in the team race with 96 points, trailing front-running Broomfield which finished the semifinal round with 112.5. Thompson Valley is third with 88 with South and Windsor tied in fourth with 74 apiece. Central is eighth with 39, East 10th with 37 and Centennial 13th with 30.

The championship matches in each of the four classifications are scheduled at 6:30 p.m.

Five Pueblo schools will be represented. And Pueblo is guaranteed at least one state champion as Hunter Willits will face South’s Marcus Martinez at 132.

South, which is wrestling without its head coach, Jerry Sisneros, who was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, secured two spots in the finals — 113-pounder Michael Ramirez and Martinez.

The performances from Pueblo County’s three freshmen was most impressive.

Grant Willits went three overtime periods with Thompson Valley’s Morgan Fogg before scoring a pin at the 8:32 mark.

Sandoval was equally tested by top-seeded Jon Lewis of Windsor and he, too, withstood the test with a convincing 8-3 decision.

Hunter Willits probably had the easiest time as he hammered Conifer’s Bronson Spies before the match was stopped on a technical fall in the third period. Older brother Keenan Wyatt took 4:51 to score a pin over Chad Ellis of Berthoud and cap the Hornets’ sweep.

“I’m not surprised they are in the finals. That’s just the way they train ... to compete at this level,” Pueblo County coach Eddie Soto said of his three freshmen. “They came in good. Our job is to get them better and prepared to wrestle under the lights.”

South suffered another big blow in the afternoon quarterfinals when returning state champion Isaac Naro dropped a 3-2 decision to Thompson Valley’s Ben Hewson at 138 pounds. Naro won the 132-pound title last as a freshman.

The Colts also lost key matches at 120 where Davis Baxter lost in overtime, and 145-pounder Austin Zuniga, who claimed outstanding wrestler honors at last week’s regionals, and 152-pounder John Torres both lost by pin. That slowed down the Herd’s run for the 4A title from a gallop on Thursday, when they advanced eight of nine wrestlers into the quarterfinals, to a virtual trot.

The Colts’ Ramirez, a two-time place finisher, reached the championship match for the first time with a 4-1 decision over Discovery Canyon’s Spencer Reynolds.

South 132-pounder Marcus Martinez made it four in a row for Pueblo when he pulled out a 6-4 win on a takedown with 14 seconds remaining against Rifle’s Dallas Roheig.

Hunter Willits’ victory and Jared Mestas’ win in his 3A semifinal match upped Pueblo’s win streak to six in a row, before Pueblo West 145-pounder Travis Myers lost by pin.

East’s Benavidez scored a 2:53 pin over Delta’s Cordell Stroud and Central’s Lancelot took a second longer (2:54) to take care of Durango’s Daniel Gustavson for their victories.